PAL Virtual Console could see NTSC games - Nintendo

Nintendo Wii's European Virtual Console could play host to games that were never released here, Nintendo has confirmed.

"There is always the potential for games that haven't seen the light of day in Europe to be on the Virtual Console. The Virtual Console is the perfect platform for them," a Nintendo UK spokesperson told Eurogamer this morning.

"Obviously any game not ever released in Europe would have to under go the PEGI and BBFC ratings process," he added.

That doesn't just mean first party games either. We asked whether Nintendo could speak to the possibility of third party titles, like Super Nintendo RPG Chrono Trigger, finally being made available to European gamers.

"I can't speak for third parties, but if it's the right game then there's absolutely no reason why it should just be a first party game," the spokesperson told us.

That comes on the back of comments in the US, made by Nintendo of America vice president George Harrison, who said that the platform holder was "open" to previously unavailable Japanese games being released in the US "if we can get them translated properly".

The news may signal a shift in Nintendo's thinking, with representatives having previously indicated that Virtual Console would initially stick to versions of games released specifically in the target territory.